The Johnny Sexton medal ordeal had a lovely resolution.
When that clip of a bemused Johnny Sexton realising he had lost his Six Nations winners’ medal began doing the rounds, a lot of Irish hearts sank.
The fact that it was Sexton made it so much worse. This was the man whose drop goal against France made the Grand Slam possible. If he hadn’t nailed that pressure kick in Paris, Ireland wouldn’t have had a historic clean sweep of the tournament.
It seems fitting that one of the most noteworthy men who didn’t feature in the 2009 Grand Slam success was the hero who ended up clinching it. However, Sexton didn’t have Tadhg Furlong’s luck when his medal went missing. When that precious disc fell off his neck, he simply couldn’t find it.
You can actually pinpoint the second his heart rips in half https://t.co/sMK3sHgmOl
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 18, 2018
“You have it”
Another man who misplaced his Six Nations medal pretty much as soon as he got it was Jordi Murphy. During an interview on The Left Wing podcast, Sexton recounted a humorous exchange he had with his Leinster and Ireland teammate at Twickenham in which they both found out the bad news.
“Myself and Jordi Murphy, we were walking around the pitch and I said to him, ‘Mate, you lost your medal,’ and he goes, ‘Oh… I think you have too.'”
After scanning the ground they finally found what they were looking for. Unfortunately, there was just one loose medal on the floor up for grabs. Murphy selflessly offered it to the fly-half.
“We looked down and there was one medal on the ground. We couldn’t figure out whose it was, so he gave that one to me. I’m not sure if he found his one, but if he hasn’t I’m sure (Head of Operations, Gerard) Carmody will sort him out. We’ll get a replacement, I’m sure. I’m not sure if it was yanked off of us when were in the crowd by are families or whatever.”
A replacement may not be necessary. Murphy was seen posing with a medal in the dressing room after the game. That being said, there’s always the possibility he got a lend of a one for the photo-op, but we’ll try to stay positive and assume the best.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgbt6t_n6f-/?hl=en&taken-by=jordimurphy
